I am a high performing student with a 4.o unweighted GPA. My goal is to get accepted into Princeton. For my Socioeconomic status, I am South Asian, and both of my Parents have Masters Degrees. My family is part of the Upper Middle-Class.
Now for my other stats:
I am Currently 2nd in my Charter School (Trying to become 1st)
My ACT score is a 29 (Working on that)
My School has started offering AP’s this year, and I am taking APUSH, AP Physics 1, AP Calc AB, and AP Lang and Comp
Extracurriculars:
I Play Golf
I play the Alto Saxophone in my School Advanced Band
I am also the head organizer of Tedx Event in my School
Awards:
Presidential Service Awards (2 Bronze, 1 Gold)
Presidential Academic Excellence Awards
Working on the Congressional Award
Since I am a junior, I have some time before I apply to college.
Are there any weak links or things that I need to add to my list?
P.S Would also like some tips to improve my ACT score
Even applicants with perfect grades and test scores, absent a significant hook (recruited athlete, child of major donor) do not have a “good chance” to get into Princeton.
At present you are not even in the ball park with a 29 ACT. To be competitive, you need to have a 33+ and a stellar transcript, and then you are competing with thousands of equally qualified candidates. The applicants that get into Princeton have that “something” that is reflected in their entire application, including LoR’s, essays and EC’s that Princeton wants to make up its student body. That ideal student body is also going to be diverse in interests, talents, abilities and even certain demographics. There is no one “recipe”.
As far as getting your ACT score up, there are a bunch of threads on this site. The basics are to practice in real conditions and then to assess after each session what the mistakes were. Could be time management, could be lapses of concentration and not understanding the question correctly, could be careless errors, or it could be weakness as a matter of substance. You then attack and drill to fix the issues.
Congratulations on the Congressional Award. How far are you? I’m a fan of the program.
Other than your test scores, you have the makings to be a competitive candidate. Stick with your ECs. Keep learning more about the college and what makes you a match.
Have you tried taking the SAT to see if you can do better on it than on the ACT? Some candidates prefer one over the other.
However, I have to agree with the other posters that as of now your ACT, which is well below the 25th percentile for Princeton, makes the chance of admission very unlikely as an unhooked candidate. https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply/admission-statistics
You also need to understand that there is nothing you can do short of winning a Nobel Prize, donating $100 million, or something along those lines that would give you a “good chance” of admission. Princeton accepted under 7% of applicants last year. Outstanding grades and standardized tests will just get you past the first hurdle. The fact is that there are many more outstanding applicants than there is space in the freshman class. It comes down to having an application that strikes the admission officer as being something special – it could be a recommendation, an essay, an activity etc.
But more importantly, don’t spend the majority of your time and energy focused on a reach school. Work to create a balanced application list that includes match and safety schools that appear affordable (run net price calculators) and that you would be excited to attend. There are so many amazing colleges and universities out there --find the ones you love.
Competitive, as in part of a qualified group that has a 15% or so chance. And that is with at least a 33 ACT and a rigorous schedule with which the 4.0 was earned.
Princeton is a reach for anyone. Give it a shot, but find match and safety schools too.
Your ACT is well below average to be a competitive. I wouldn’t waste my time on them anyway. Even if you had perfect scores, your chance would be 4% at best. Just pick a wide variety of affordable schools that work for you.
As with other potential applicants, I think you’d benefit from considering Princeton in the context of other colleges. For example, Kenyon (middle-range ACT, 29-33) seems to represent a good high-match school for you at this time (as well as a good potential match school for many considering Princeton). Even if you don’t ultimately pursue the school I used for an alternative example (chosen, in part, for statistical reasons), I advise you to research broadly for suitable choices during your college selection process. The link below, which includes Princeton if you scroll, may offer you further ideas.
